The Sign of the Broken Flask

19 Thus says the Lord: “Go and get a potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. ² And go out to ^(A)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, ^3 (B)and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will ^(C)tingle.

⁴ “Because they ^(D)have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with ^(E)the blood of the innocents ^5 (F)(they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, ^(G)which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), ⁶ therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or ^(H)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, ^(I)and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their ^(J)corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. ⁸ I will make this city ^(K)desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. ⁹ And I will cause them to eat the ^(L)flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair.” ’

^10 (M)“Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(N)“Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be ^[a]made whole again; and they shall ^(O)bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury. ¹² Thus I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants, and make this city like Tophet. ¹³ And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled ^(P)like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose ^(Q)roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and ^(R)poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in ^(S)the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, ¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because ^(T)they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’ ”

The New Man

¹⁷ This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should ^(A)no longer walk as ^[a]the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸ having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the ^(B)blindness of their heart; ^19 (C)who, being past feeling, ^(D)have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

²⁰ But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you ^(E)put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and ^(F)be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you ^(G)put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Do Not Grieve the Spirit

²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, ^(H)“Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for ^(I)we are members of one another. ^26 (J)“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ^27 (K)nor give ^[b]place to the devil. ²⁸ Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather ^(L)let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something ^(M)to give him who has need. ^29 (N)Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but ^(O)what is good for necessary ^[c]edification, ^(P)that it may impart grace to the hearers. ³⁰ And ^(Q)do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Jerusalem’s Doom Is Sealed

21 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when ^(A)King Zedekiah sent to him ^(B)Pashhur the son of Melchiah, and ^(C)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, ^2 (D)“Please inquire of the Lord for us, for ^[a]Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us.”

³ Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the ^[b]Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and ^(E)I will assemble them in the midst of this city. ⁵ I ^(F)Myself will fight against you with an ^(G)outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath. ⁶ I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. ⁷ And afterward,” says the Lord, ^(H)“I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. ^(I)He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy.” ’

⁸ “Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, ^(J)I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ He who ^(K)remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and ^[c]defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall ^(L)live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. ¹⁰ For I have ^(M)set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the Lord. ^(N)“It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall ^(O)burn it with fire.” ’

Jesus’ Brothers Disbelieve

7 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, ^(A)because the ^[a]Jews sought to kill Him. ^2 (B)Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. ^3 (C)His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For ^(D)even His ^(E)brothers did not believe in Him.

⁶ Then Jesus said to them, ^(F)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. ^7 (G)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me ^(H)because I testify of it that its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to this feast. I am not ^[b]yet going up to this feast, ^(I)for My time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

The Heavenly Scholar

¹⁰ But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. ¹¹ Then ^(J)the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” ¹² And ^(K)there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. ^(L)Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” ¹³ However, no one spoke openly of Him ^(M)for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴ Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and ^(N)taught. ^15 (O)And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

^16 [c]Jesus answered them and said, ^(P)“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. ^17 (Q)If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. ^18 (R)He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who ^(S)seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and ^(T)no unrighteousness is in Him. ^19 (U)Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? ^(V)Why do you seek to kill Me?”

²⁰ The people answered and said, ^(W)“You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”

²¹ Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. ^22 (X)Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, ^(Y)but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³ If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because ^(Z)I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? ^24 (AA)Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”